It’s occurred to me since having a child that it’s a good thing the child does not know his monthly birthdays and even his first birthday are really any different from any other day. Most of them are marred by a doctor visit and shots. Today, Max and I endured the 12-month checkup and I was startled by the exponential increase in difficulty of the doctor’s visit since his nine-month visit. (We were there a few weeks ago when he had strep, but I guess the illness kept him in check.)
A timeline of the day (or how not to handle the 12-month visit)
10:50 a.m. Put son down half an hour early for nap.
12:00 p.m. Get son out of crib after roughly an hour of not napping.
12:15 p.m. Start bottle early (It was due at 12:55, but appointment is at 1:45.)
12:25 p.m. Son wants break from bottle.
1 p.m. One more break and half an hour later, bottle mostly done. Settling in high chair for lunch.
1:02 p.m. Pinch son’s delicate tummy skin in high chair. Spend frantic minute finding source of crying. Remove from chair, comfort, return to chair CAREFULLY.
1:25 p.m. Finish fairly uneventful lunch. Rush upstairs, change diaper, and dress child.
1:30 p.m. Rain starts pouring, rush upstairs for umbrella.
1:35 p.m. Place child in carseat, say f-word three times, volume increasing with each repetition, as you futilely attempt to close umbrella. Head to doctor’s office, which is more than ten minutes away, especially in the rain.
1:50 Arrive at doctor’s office, park in newborn and mother-to-be parking with one-year-old. (Hey, I never got to use it when I was pregnant and then actually had a newborn.) Curse your luck when notice mother with apparent newborn parked next to you.
1:51 Sigh with relief when you find out hers is nine-months-old.
2:00 p.m. Start waiting in exam room with restless toddler who can’t actually toddle very well yet and only wants to play with the wipes container and germy exam room toys, despite the ones you brought from home.
2:20 Finally get your exam. Try to contain toddler who cries while his ears are being checked.
2:35-ish Start waiting for the nurse to come back with the shots. Pace back and forth holding child, making sad puppy noises from your son’s favorite song from music class, hoping no one in the hall or next room can hear you.
2:45 Start going crazy waiting for the shots. Decide to let son down on floor, thinking that will make the nurse show up.
2:46 Son smacks face on floor. Starts screaming. Nurse walks in.
2:55 Comfort screaming son after shots. Head home, stopping at Starbucks on the way.
Kittymomma's Adventures 